A selection of upcoming and recently published titles
Titles are meant to reflect a broad range of topics and are not reviewed or endorsed by Aerospace America or AIAA.
Inside Mission Control: My Time During NASA’s Shuttle Era
Releasing Nov. 15, 2026 (Purdue University Press)
Wayne Hale spent more than three decades at NASA, including as flight controller, flight director, and head of the Space Shuttle Program. His book includes “a range of personal stories and reflections experienced during his tenure,” according to the publisher.
“Also covered are some of the darkest moments in NASA history—the Challenger and Columbia disasters, and the management decisions that serve as a caution to anyone involved in high-risk activities,” the publisher adds. “Hale’s indelible descriptions of the events and the people behind them could only be written by a member of the inner circle.”
Space Odyssey: Risk, Rivalries, and the Next Giant Leap
Releasing Jan. 26, 2027 (Harper Horizon)
Bill Nelson, a former U.S. senator who was NASA administrator during the Biden administration, “takes readers inside the cockpit, the Situation Room, and the Administrator’s chair as NASA navigates a rapidly changing landscape,” according to the publisher.
He “reveals how seemingly technical decisions—about spacecraft, budgets, and launch timelines—carry enormous consequences for national security, economic strength, and global leadership,” it adds. “Nelson argues that if America cedes its leadership in space, it forfeits far more than prestige. It risks losing the strategic high ground, the scientific infrastructure that monitors climate change, and the innovations that quietly shape everyday life on Earth.”
SpaceX’s Dragon and Starship: Revolution, Reusability, and the Race to Mars
Releasing March 1, 2027 (Springer Nature)
Erik Seedhouse, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, takes a look at “how SpaceX took the hard-won experience of building and flying Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon and used it as the springboard to develop the most ambitious space vehicle ever: Starship,” according to the publisher.
“From delivering supplies to the ISS to launching astronauts safely into orbit, Dragon proved that commercial spaceflight could be fast, reliable, and reusable. But Dragon wasn’t just about missions, it was about learning,” the publisher writes.
